Discussion on Gear Evolution - Battle Belts, flexibility and plans

Last week, MVT posted up a video talking through his current fighting gear / load bearing equipment, which includes a new chest rig made to his specs. It also includes a pretty cool first person run through a shooting scenario - worth paying attention here to pick up on some of the tactics/techniques that Max teaches.

The set up that Max shows here - a light battle belt and midweight chest rig is interesting in that it is a pretty significant shift from the heavy British Para-webbing style battle belt that he used to be a big advocate for--here's the most recent example that I can find:

Image via MVT.

10-12ish mags, handgun, 4x canteen pouches on the back and a couple handgun pouches to round it out. We'll call it a "British-style" battle belt for lack of a better name.


I toyed around with a British battle belt, similar to Max Velocity's, through part of last year. Went cheap on the belt - got a Condor knock off and their harness, bought a few surplus USGI canteen pouches and used pouches that I had lying around to cobble one together.

Found a lot to like about it - way better load carrying ability and generally more comfortable / better mobility than a comparable weight of chest rig. Gives you the ability to carry a decent amount of food, a canteen, survival gear and a big IFAK, which can be a challenge using other load carrying gear. Good place to put your sidearm and good access to it. Easily adjusts to different weights of clothing, too.

After a bit of T&E, I ended up giving up on a British-style battle belt for my purposes, at least for the time being. Why?

The big deal breaker is operations in/around vehicles, and to a lesser extent moving through structures/room clearing. Canteen/utility pouches on the back and triple-thick mag pouches on the hips extends your width pretty significantly and you start having to turn sideways to get through doors, can't sit in a normal car comfortably, etc.

Image via BPRE

There's also no lighter/low threat profile to choose from with just the heavy belt. A lighter battle gives you the option of operating with just the lighter, more comfortable, lower profile belt on. Options and flexibility are good.

Of course, this isn't exactly a revelation--Max's heavier weight battle belts were a bit of an outlier in the tactical gear world. Folks have been running lighter battle belts in conjunction with a lighter chest rig or plate carrier mounted pouches for a while.




It looks like Max has arrived at a similar conclusion and ditched his big ol' battle belt, at least for general use. In his recent write-up on the new chest rig featured in the video above, Max says:

I have most recently been settling on using a light battlebelt, which is comfortable enough to wear most of the time, augmented by a chest rig. I feel that this is the most practical application across operational environments; it works well for both dismounted operations, vehicle operations, and with or without armor.

This matches my own personal assessment after running a variety of gear - plate carriers with pouches directly attached, stand alone chest rigs of a variety of sizes, 'British' battle belt, etc.

I'm currently mid-process of re-building my kit to incorporate three different layers - light battle belt, chest rig and slick plate carrier. In conjunction with concealed carry/daily carry gear, these standalone pieces give you the flexibility of different profiles to address different situations. Slick plate carrier and CCW if anticipating potential trouble but need to maintain low profile. Light battle belt for running drills on the range or hunting. Throw it all together if the Nazi Zombies are at the front gates.

Chest rig and carrier are sorted out - HSP D3CR and a Velocity Lightweight Plate Carrier. I may down the line drop some coin on a custom rig from Extreme Gear Labs, designers of the D3CR, but generally the stock D3CR does what I need it to do. Looking forward to a couple of the enhancements HSP has in the works this year. The ability to directly attach the D3CR to the carrier, or run it as a standalone rig is money.

Battle belt is a work in progress - ideally want pistol, pistol mags x2, 2-3 rifle mags, dump pouch, IFAK, H2O of some variety, flashlight and multi-tool. Maybe comms, too. Not sure if I can manage all of that with the given real estate, but we'll see.

Follow up posts/reviews are incoming.

In my experience, most people are continually tinkering with/adjusting their gear. Trying new things, incorporating new ideas or revisiting old ones. Travis Haley makes a big emphasis on preaching the importance of staying dynamic and adaptive...and at worst, adjusting and evaluating what you're doing exposes you to different ideas and keeps you on your toes.

Interested to hear from the tribe - are you tinkering with your battle rattle? What gear ideas have you tried out recently and left by the wayside?

Project AR-(20)15 Complete...for now

Mk1 version of the rifle is complete. Click here for the 'before' view. Build is as follows:

Upper:

• 14.5" ELW Barrel w/ BCM Mod 1 Pinned and welded to bring it to 16"
• KMR 13 rail
• Arisaka Defense DIY Scout light - Malkoff bulb, Arisaka body, Surefire tailcap, attached to the Arisaka Keymod scout mount
• Aimpoint H1 on the Larue LT-751 Absolute Co-Witness mount
• Troy folding battle sights
• BCM BCG & Stag charging handle 

Lower:

• Vanilla home-assembled CMMG lower
• BCM Gunfighter handgrip
• BCM QD Endplate
• Magpul STR stock
• Magpul BAD lever

Happy with everything at this point, and will throw out some more detailed reviews/thoughts around some of the components here in the new future.

Weight sits just under 7 pounds without a mag, over 7 pounds with a mag. Very handy, well balanced and comfortable AR. Pretty much exactly what I want.

The Troy's are much more what I am looking for in BUIS than the Magpul PROs were. The Arisaka light setup puts the light exactly where I want it, with a lightweight, low profile mounting solution.

The Microsight is slick and well proven, and purchased second hand for a pretty good deal. Went with the absolute witness mount as that's what I'm used to. I may get some kind of variable magnified scope to switch in and out in the future. Larue's really nice QD mount should facilitate that.

The Gunfighter grip is a huge improvement over the old Magpul grip that I was using, as it has an angle more appropriate for a modern shooting stance, and thus makes the AR a hell of a lot more comfortable shoulder. The old grips end up putting strain on my wrist, which gets annoying after a time.

Life, southern ice storms and waiting on optics and sights to arrive has delayed the initial break in. Should be sometime this next week, and I'm looking forward to throwing some lead with this thing.

As thread title suggests, I'm not entirely done. Need a better charging handle - planning on picking up a Raptor. Need a forward sling QD mount. Probably an upgraded trigger, too. And might swap out the stock.

The black rifle disease...it never ends...

More to come later.

Project AR-(20)15 - Follow-up Discussion: Optics

Had some good comments around optics in the prior post, and Ryan shared his thoughts on optic choices, so I thought some follow-up discussion was in order.

Aimpoint PRO vs Micro Dot
My current optic is an Aimpoint PRO. It's been very good, zero issues, and a solid choice for a $400 red dot w/ mount. Great budget conscious choice, but the only real reason that I can discern to run a PRO is if you can't afford the $200-ish extra for a H1, T1 or T2 Micro Dot.

What was in the box - Project AR-(20)15

The BCM upper discussed a little bit back was purchased and arrived in short order. The stats:

• 14.5" Enhanced Lightweight Barrel (ELW)
• Pinned BCM Gunfighter Comp Mod 1
• KMR13 Free float handguard 

The combination shorter barrel along with BCM's proprietary ELW profile and magnesium alloy KMR rail make for a lightweight, agile and all around handy carbine. It's very slick.

Look - a box!

This showed up on my doorstep...hmm, what could it be?

Damn you, BCM, for announcing the end of your perpetual free bolt carrier group sale! Damn you!

Also - try not to get too jealous of my rug.

That is all.

For now.

AR-(20)15 plans

As mentioned in my 2015 goals, one of my big goals is a less specific "General consolidation of stuff / updating / completing various systems (go-to AR, battle rattle, EDC, etc.)."

A commenter asked for specific plans r.e. the AR-15, so here goes.

My current go-to AR-15 is a Stag carbine-length 16" upper w/ MOE handguards and an assemble-it-yourself lower. Current config:

The upper has been 100% reliable through the variety of ammo that I've run through it and ~8 years of use, but it's also pretty outdated, and I find that the carbine-length handguards put a limitation on adopting a more modern grip.

I've had a more up-to-date AR on the back burner since literally the last election cycle (pre-Sandy Hook). I tend to have 1 or 2 major firearms related purchases in finances per year, I decided 2015 was 'bout time to get AR upper done. Prices and availability are not going to get any better, that's for sure.

Current plan, as it stands, is a BCM lightweight BFH 14.5" Mid-length with their 13" KMR rail. Likely the BCM "tactical" gunfighter comp, perma-pinned. That should bring me pretty current in terms of AR-tech, da?

To get ahead of the follow-up questions:

Why BCM? They're pretty universally well regarded as high quality, go-to level stuff. You can save a few hundred bucks going with other brands, and you can spend several hundred more going with others. I'm concerned with having something that I can put confidence in right out of the box, and BCM is one of the brands that I'd put that trust in.

They also do a lot of cool marketing, collaborations and support for the firearms industry as a whole, and I don't mind supporting that, either.

Why 14.5 inches with a pinned comp? It's the shortest you can get without either getting into an SBR or the now questionable AR pistol / SIG Brace territory. Moving indoors and in vehicles is a part of life, and having a maneuverable gun helps make that a bit easier. The downside is that it makes switching out muzzle devices harder, though a capable gunsmith can cut off a pinned on comp if a change is needed down the road.

Why mid-length? Longer gas system = lower pressure slamming through the direct impingement system, less wear and tear and softer recoil impulse.

Why the KMR rail? Ridiculously light weight for a full length rail, super strong, and direct mounting of tacticool accessories via keymod. Does look a bit like hardware store shelving, though.

Why the gunfighter comp? It's a combo flash hider and compensator, so you get goodness from both worlds.

Looking at other options as well - nothing being set in stone at this point. I might go for a 16" barrel, different rail, different comp, etc. Arranging federal reserve notes now. Will make the purchase within the next month or so.

I'm undecided about what to do with the Stag upper - it will be collecting dust in the safe after new upper arrives.

The minimalist don't have excess stuff part of me wants to sell it and roll said funds into the purchase of the new upper. I'm not the type who wants lots of average firearms...I want a few, trusted and higher quality ones. The extra cash to dump into the new project would be welcome.

Survivalist side of me has me holding onto it for a backup / hand out. I have extra lowers hanging out, so it's a complete carbine with a good track record. Not bad to have around.

And the cheap side of me says scrap the new upper, just dump a couple hundred bucks into the current upper to modernize it a bit. New hand guards/rail, maybe free float it, and a few other enhancements to bring it more up to speed.

Thoughts from the tribe?

Magpul drops two bombshells - PMAG D60 and PMAG17 mags

With SHOT 2015 kicking off,  Magpul has dropped two big product announcements.

The D60 - 60 Round PMAG



The D60 gives us the hope for a sturdy, 100% reliable 60 round drum at the $100-ish price point. It's made of Magpul's super sturdy, polymer, easily dissembled, lower profile than a Surefire 60 and has a special loading mechanism. A reliable drum mag or two ain't bad to have around, especially for those bump-SAWs out there.

The PMAG17 - Glock 17 mags



A Glock mag that will likely have a street price in the $12 ballpark - with Magpul's track record of rugged reliability? These things will sell faster than bricks o' .22lr! Count me in for ten of these.

Military Arms Channel on the SB-15, final thoughts until ATF clarification is available...

MAC is spot on, here and worth a watch. I would agree on the recommendation - if you want to play it safe with an AR-15 pistol, get one that comes as a pistol from the factory. Sig's pistols, BCM's pistol or similar from other manufacturers.

Then, it's sold and transferred to you as a pistol, says it's a pistol on the box, marketed as such, and the manufacturer's intent is without a doubt - it is clearly a pistol. This prevents any kind of confusion and potential legal entanglements about 'intent' to manufacture an SBR that could come up with a DIY build.

That said, the ATF hasn't come forward to clear up matters at this point. They could clarify that shouldering an SB-15 brace occasionally, even on a factory made pistol, is a no-no. At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if that was the final outcome. Good luck on enforcing that one, though.

If such an opinion is released, I would expect it to apply to the various SB-15 knock offs like the Thorsden, the Sig SBX brace, etc. 

Personally, my interest in an AR pistol has waned. I've decided against 300 Blackout - logistics being the deal breaker - which points me to a 10.5-11 inch pistol in 5.56. With muzzle devices installed, such a pistol offers only 3.5 to 4 inches of barrel length savings over a 14.5 inch rifle with a pinned comp...and the pinned 14.5er is legally a rifle, versus a gimped pistol and the various associated downsides.

Any thoughts from the tribe? Tired of this mess yet?

Good reads on AR-15 gas system lengths

Discussion came up in the $1k arsenal comments around the reliability of carbine-length gas systems on AR-15s. Wanted to share a couple good reads on the subject:

AR-15 Buyer's Guide at the New Rifleman (good overall guide, scroll down for the gas-system discussion)

"Even though the carbine has an “aggressive” gas system, it is still a reliable machine. It may experience parts breakage sooner in its life than the other configurations, but we’re talking many thousands of rounds before that *might* occur."

And another good 'un:
Carbine vs. Mid-length on 16" Barrels

My thoughts: A carbine-gassed 16" should still run plenty reliably, just harder on the parts and with a bit more recoil impulse. My personal AR-15 has been a carbine-gassed 16" gun for years and has run 100% with mostly Wolf/Tula crap ammo run through it. If you have the choice, I'd go with a mid-length on a 16" barrel, but I wouldn't loose much sleep over it if you can't.

A Public Service Announcement on the SIG SB15 Brace

In case you hadn't heard, MAC lays out the latest on the AR-15 'brace' and the BATF.

MGI Hydra Multi-Caliber AR

This is interesting. I would be worried about the long term durability of the system - more moving parts, more to break - but thumbs up for creative engineering.

Reader Question: AR-15 Pistols

Dear TEOTWAWKI:

I've been reading your blog for quite some time and thoroughly enjoy the information you put out. I did a quick search of your blog and couldn't find anything specific about AR pistols. What is your opinion of them? 

My interest was peaked when I read about one of the character's AR pistol in "You Took Away Tomorrow", and now I am looking to possibly get one of my own, possibly starting off with a Kel Tec PLR 22 since it allows me to try it out without breaking the bank.

AR pistols are interesting really only due to some of the silly federal firearms laws and ATF rulings here in the U.S. 

Ideally, you would just have a short barreled rifle (SBR) with a normal stock - but, that requires a ATF approval, $200 tax stamp and so on. And, in most states you cannot legally carry a concealed rifle, SBR or not.

AR pistols allow you to have an "almost SBR", without having to go through the ATF/tax stamp process. You still have the buffer tube, which you can use for that important third point of contact. You get the short barrel and handy size.

The ATF has also recently ruled that 'arm braces' intended to stabilize shooting an AR pistol one handed are not stocks. Yes, you can put one of these on and AR pistol and it is still just a pistol and 100% legal per the ATF. I'm on the fence about whether or not these braces are too good to be true/likely to lead to trouble OR if they'll be legal and on the 'ok' list for the long run.

And, because an AR pistol is legally/technically a just pistol, if you have a carry permit, you may be able to legally carry a concealed AR pistol...just like you could legally carry a Glock or J-frame. 

Know your local laws. And 'legal' doesn't always mean 'good idea.' Despite being legal, a run in with an LEO while carrying an AR pistol around in a backpack is probably not going to be as simple as a quick, pleasant conversation.

So, an AR pistol is an interesting niche due to ATF rulings.

In YTAT, Jack used his AR pistol much in the manner I see them being useful - during a disaster situation, for low profile/vehicle operations, where law and order is still somewhat in effect and you're concerned about staying legal. That is a fairly narrow niche.

You could also use one as a home defense weapon - the shorter barrel/handier size being a virtue indoors, though the shorter barrel 5.56 would not be gentle on your ears. A 9mm AR pistol would probably be better for this purpose. You would want to think through the ramifications and potential legal complications if you did ever use an "evil black, short barreled military pattern assault pistol" in a home defense situation.

I have zero interest any other 'pistol' versions of rifles...an AK pistol, for example, lacks the buffer tube to use as an improvised stock, making it heavy, awkward, loud and generally inaccurate to use (though they to make a 'brace' for AK pistols, too - if you want to go down that path). 

Specifically, the Kel-Tec guns fall into the same camp of heavy, awkward, loud and generally inaccurate...and they are Kel-Tecs, which have a generally horrible reputation. If you want something as a range blasting toy though, then have at it. 

Useful Links:

Jerking the Trigger - AR-15 Pistols - Clearing up Misconceptions 

Gabe Suarez used to have a couple good blog posts on AR pistols up on Warrior Talk News, but it looks like it is down/in transition right now, and my Google-fu is weak. This product page, though, shows two techniques for making use of the buffer tube.

The ARFCOM AR Pistol forum has a wealth of information, FAQs and so on. Your best bet for a deep dive.

Thoughts on Fighting Gear: Guns

Thanks to all those who have commented so far on the 'question' post from Monday. It's good to get a gauge for where everyone is before launching into any discussion on a topic.

Based on those comments, I wanted to talk through the firearm part, since several folks seem to be figuring that out. There's no reason to worry about a holster before you've bought the handgun, a sling before you've bought the rifle or how you will carry magazines if you have neither.

And, I will preface this and future conversations by recommending having some emergency savings, food and water storage and other basics before diving into the deep end of fighter gear. I'd also recommend an assessment of risks that you see yourself facing and whether you would play an active role in the defense of your community or whether a support role might be more appropriate.

If you are skeptical of the need for a citizen to take up arms in defense of his community, religion, nation or liberty, please keep your skepticism to yourself and do a little bit of reading on both historical and current events.

Anyways, onto the gun talk!